TV3 show host, producer charged over Watson Nyambek insult
SIBU: The host of TV3 sportsbased comedy programme `Sukan Tak Sentral’ Azizul Ammar Abu Hassan and the show’s producer Abdul Ghani Mokhtar were jointlycharged in the magistrate’s court here yesterday with intentionally insulting former national sprint king Watson Nyambek.
Azizul Ammar, 30, from Kuala Lumpur and Abdul Ghani, 41, of Petaling Jaya, Selangor appeared calm and pleaded not guilty to the joint charge under Section 504 of the Penal Code with intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.
The offence was allegedly committed at Hotel Medan here at 11.30pm on April 22.
The offence provides for a jail term up to two years, a fine, or both if convicted.
Magistrate Saiful Sayoti ordered the duo to be released on RM3,500 bail with one surety each, pending a pre-trial fixed for July 4.
Watson, 41, now a full-time trainer with the National Sports Council, lodged a police report on April 24 against TV3 and the producer of the television programme for allegedly making derogating remarks against his late father.
Azizul had allegedly imitated the bleating of a goat while pronouncing the last syllable of `Nyambek’ during the airing of the show.
Watson, in his police report, stated that the way they mentioned the name was as if they were comparing his late father to an animal.
He has urged the police to investigate the motive behind the insensitive action despite having receiving apologies from TV3, while also mentioning that he was contemplating taking legal action against them.